NetBeans 6.0 Beta 1 Released (Ruby Edition available)

NetBeans is an open-source IDE written in Java (somewhat like Eclipse, but not the same), and version 6.0 is the first with a Ruby-specific edition that focuses solidly on the things that Ruby and Ruby on Rails developers need. The NetBeans team have just released the first beta version.

NetBeans is a powerful and free. You can create Ruby and Rails projects, run Ruby files, configure interpreters (MRI and JRuby), install Gems graphically, run tests, run RSpecs, debug Ruby code, run Rails apps, and so on, all from the IDE. The Ruby edition is only a 19MB download and it's available right now. There are several Ruby related NetBeans screencasts for the less convinced.

I've been using the dev builds for a few months. It's really good. One thing to note for new users... It comes with JRuby and uses that by default when you click the "run" button. You may be fine with this, but if not go into the prefs and enter the path to your native Ruby executable. (You'll need to do that anyway if you want to use the fast debugger gem. Actually debugging is kind of a journey, but once you get it running it's great.)

Thanks for the tip. Looks promising. I love Ruby but hate the IDEs for it. Solid code completion not only helps write code faster but makes sure you do not wait for run time to see you miss typed a method name. Code completion looks great so far but it does not complete on Active Record records. I will be giving it a spin.